


Hunger Pangs

by shiningstar



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:09:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27180202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiningstar/pseuds/shiningstar
Summary: Rey dies with teeth deep in her throat.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 12
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	Hunger Pangs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Corina (CorinaLannister)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorinaLannister/gifts).



Rey dies with teeth deep in her throat. She wakes with red eyes and a hunger that threatens to swallow her whole. She kills the thing that killed her first and feasts on their blood until the red in her eyes bleeds back into hazel.

The thing that killed her must not have family because no one ever comes looking. She worries for a week before letting it go. If no one is going to retaliate, Rey doesn't care. It is not the first thing she's killed in the desert sands.

No one else ever knows. Rey lives by herself and far away from Niima Outpost on purpose. No one has friends on Jakku. Anyone who pretends to be friends is sizing up the perfect place for a knife.

Rey's life changes very little. She's a little stronger. She can see a little better in the dark. She burns a little more easily in the sun. She's hungry for something more than food portions, but she gets better and better at pushing that hunger down. The scavengers that wander through Niima Outpost never appeal to her enough to try drinking from their necks.

Her territory expands as the years go by. She meets new people. She decides that maybe people can be friends on Jakku if they're not fighting over scrap. Rey likes the people of Tuanul. They're wary of her, but they never try to chase her out of their settlement. Rey thinks that's a fair exchange. As long as they continue to do so, she will continue to keep her teeth away from their necks.

That changes when the First Order attacks. There is blood on the air and Rey is suddenly, overwhelmingly hungry. Her appetite is so wide and vast she wants to eat the entire settlement. Tuanul has never stopped cautiously welcoming her, but they probably won't mind it if she eats the people setting their houses on fire.

Rey feasts. She cracks open their shiny white armor and gluts herself on blood. The more she drinks the faster she gets. She's been starving herself for years and she's never known what it feels to be sated and full.

She sits on a pile of broken bodies and licks her fingers clean as the soldiers that avoided her teeth run for their lives. Tuanul scrambles to put out fires and administer first aid to their wounded, but they do nothing to Rey on her throne.

Lor San Tekka finds her later with a bruise blooming across his face. She's glad he wasn't one of ones the First Order killed. She likes him and his stories about the Jedi. There's an acrid scent to him that she now recognizes as fear, but he still looks at her with gentle eyes.

"They'll come back," he says. "With more weapons."

"Let them," Rey says. "I like Tuanul. If they want to bring food to my door I'll feast."

Lor San Tekka swallows hard.

"Will you eat us if you get hungry?" he asks.

"I've been hungry for years," Rey says. "You've been kind as long as you've known me. I can keep my teeth to myself."


End file.
